dead and gone

He decries the death of dignity,
or
at
least its dearth. The word has
lost its honor, he believes,
which is ironic
because
he thinks honor
also
has gone missing. He learned
both words, early, when he was
a
kid, he thinks, or at least a young
man. Today’s children, its students,
its hope for the future
cannot define either, nor
give examples, thereof, but is it
their failure or ours,
he wonders, knowing full well, of course,
that it
is
everyone’s loss.